Monday, January 4, 2016

The Winter 2016 Reading List

I don't suspect it's a secret, the way
I feel about Mark Dragotta. Sure, I've always admired him, as I think
one might admire a friend. He and I were always able to get things
done and have ample time for gin and honky-tonkin'. After all, we
started up Umbrella Factory Magazine
all those years ago and left a fairly substantial portion of our
livers back in 2010.

Mark
and I were together much of the time during the early days of UFM.
We worked on our magazine for a part of the day, and we worked as
waiters at Marlowe's nearly every night too. It was only after our
shifts at Marlowe's that we partied, but even in those times too, we
were talking about writers and books and the direction of literature
in America.

In
more ways than one, I miss my days with Mark. I miss him because he
always had insightful things to say and he was always reading,
oftentimes interesting books. I mostly miss him because we were still
in our youth in those days, carefree and blissfully drinking our
nights away.

When I
think about the seasonal reading lists, they are always associated
and sometimes dedicated to Mark. After all, years ago, I thought
about reading lists and it was his suggestion after reading The
Virgin Suicides that some
reading lists like “alcoholism and depression” were best for
winter while “beach reads” were suited for summer.

For my
reading list this winter, I'm also thinking about something Mark once
said. Mark is a voracious reader. He's a selective reader too. He
once wanted to get into Chekhov but he waited for a very particular
translation. Years ago, while he was still writing for Denver's
weekly, The Westword,
Mark decided to quit his job as a waiter and spend a year writing and
developing a web design business. He didn't have much money in that
time, but he didn't need much either. He didn't have money to go out
often and he didn't have money for books. The way he presented it to
me was like a camel had water, Mark had bought books. He had many
books on his shelf which he bought when flush and lacked the time to
read. He now had ample time to read and no money for new books.

I'm in
a bit of a similar situation now. Of course, I've never had much
money. I do have many books I'm yet to read. And as the last few
years, the years since my son arrived, I don't have a great deal of
time to read. I'm often tired and reading has proved tough. I read a
quarter of the books I once did. And I've been meaning to read the
books on this list, mostly classics, for years.

Here's
the list:

1
Christina Rossetti “The Goblin Market” and other poems

2
English ghost stories

3
Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence

4
Gustav Flaubert Madam Bovary

5 Mark
Coker Boob Tube

6
Emerson's Essays

7
Lensworks

It
should be interesting to see how well I do come March. It's my belief
that everything starts with reading. Those who are readers become
thinkers and writers only writers if they are readers first.